The invention relates to a pump for an artificial heart, more specifically, to a device which is insertable into the blood circulatory system of a living being as an aid or substitute for a natural heart. Such devices are described, for example, in "Advances in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics" Volume 3, Cardiac Engineering, published by Interscience Publishers, a division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cardiac surgeons have set forth requirements for an artificial heart pump that have not been met in their entirety by the pumps presently known for this purpose. Essentially, these requirements call for a flat, rounded-off shape for a pump which is flexible throughout the largest possible area of its outer covering, and the connection conduits of which are attached in a releasable and/or swivelable manner, to the pump housing.
Furthermore, the pump shall operate smoothly, that is free of irregular shocks and it shall run as vibration-free as possible. For this purpose, gravity forces must be compensated.
The foregoing requirements pertain mainly to the application and body compatibility of the pump as such. As mentioned, these requirements have not been satisfied heretofore. However, other requirements, not relating directly to the invention, for example, requirements relating to the drive and to the pump control or to artificial heart valves to be inserted in the blood stream, have been met heretofore by a number of well known proposals.